I am planning an early AT (NOBO) start on 01/09/15. Is there anyone planning a start on or about that date?
Tabasco
Tabasco
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January 2015 Early AT Start (NOBO)
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Not me. Welcome to the cafe, Tabasco.
Lost in the right direction. -
^ What she said. ^Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee
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waaay too cold....but i'll be out there day hiking if the weather is unseasonably warm and its not raining. or snowing.2,000 miler
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most likely i'll be leaving beginning of april.im leaning more towards doing the bmt again and then the jmt in the summer.its all good
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Early April for me too."Dazed and Confused"
Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
Plant a tree
Take a kid hiking
Make a difference -
Tabasco wrote:
I am planning an early AT (NOBO) start on 01/09/15. Is there anyone planning a start on or about that date?
Tabasco
Welcome to the Cafe Tobasco!
If you start in January you better bring some Tobasco with you (along with warm gear and clothes) to stay warm.
It can be done though. The Good German and Dakota Joe did it with an early start (and July 4 Summit) this year (2014).
The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
Richard Ewell, CSA General -
Good luck. Have a great time.Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
Dr. Seuss
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There's a lot of hiking experience here in the cafe. Don't hesitate to ask questions...and join in the fun. Lost in the right direction.
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TrafficJam wrote:
There's a lot of hiking experience here in the cafe.
People hike here? I thought it was just a bunch of beer swillers with computers and some camping gear.
Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee -
Thanks, Astro and Rasty. Microspikes and cold weather gear are packed; although, I have my fingers crossed for unseasonably warm weather until I get through the Smokies!
I am hopeful that I can link up with another hiker, so please let me know
if you are aware of others leaving Springer on or about 01/09/15.
Thanks guys. -
Tabasco wrote:
Thanks, Astro and Rasty. Microspikes and cold weather gear are packed; although, I have my fingers crossed for unseasonably warm weather until I get through the Smokies!
I am hopeful that I can link up with another hiker, so please let me know
if you are aware of others leaving Springer on or about 01/09/15.
Thanks guys.
Does it get easier after the Smokies? Not that I'm aware. I'm not hiking or re-hiking the AT next summer, but last time I did, it was an early-April start. -
Rafe, I have very little experience but IMO, the issue with hiking the Smokies in winter conditions is that it is difficult to bail out. If you bail, where do you go? If roads are closed, you are unlikely to find a ride into Townsend or Gatlinburg, unless you get lucky and find a park employee.Lost in the right direction.
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Obviously hadn't thought about it in terms of opportunities-to-bail. The very idea of long-distance hiking in winter conditions leaves me... cold.
I do day hikes in winter in the Whites, but have very little real experience with winter camping, and none at all with distance hiking in winter. -
TrafficJam wrote:
Rafe, I have very little experience but IMO, the issue with hiking the Smokies in winter conditions is that it is difficult to bail out. If you bail, where do you go? If roads are closed, you are unlikely to find a ride into Townsend or Gatlinburg, unless you get lucky and find a park employee.
yep, and the high elevations thru the park make the park the most likely location for high snowfall conditions for the nobo hiker.2,000 miler -
rafe wrote:
Obviously hadn't thought about it in terms of opportunities-to-bail. The very idea of long-distance hiking in winter conditions leaves me... cold. I do day hikes in winter in the Whites, but have very little real experience with winter camping, and none at all with distance hiking in winter.
me either, just day hiking. Lost in the right direction. -
I guess you can head back to Fontana if you had to but once past Spence Field, you'd have to be committed and prepared to make it to Standing Bear. What's the recommendation for how many days of food to carry?Lost in the right direction.
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I think its 5 or 6."Dazed and Confused"
Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
Plant a tree
Take a kid hiking
Make a difference -
Lost in the right direction.
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Are they going to start the blue blaze in the smokeys this year? My understanding is that they were planning to start a bad weather route...
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A well prepared hiker ALWAYS knows a blue blaze option.
Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait. -
Grinder wrote:
People hike here? I thought it was just a bunch of beer swillers with computers and some camping gear.
We're drinkers with a hiking problem.
OzJacko wrote:
A well prepared hiker ALWAYS knows a blue blaze option.
Sometimes there just isn't any. On my last section hike, I had a 39-mile roadless stretch where the shortest path to the nearest road was the trail and any detour would be a bushwhack through fairly challenging terrain. [1] There were a couple of long escape routes (longer than following the trail) but for the most part the options were "hike on" and "turn back." I could have used a better high-water option in spots.
[1] Ask the Elf what I mean by "fairly challenging terrain."I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here. -
Be very careful, opt on the safety side. I followed a NOBO, Rifle in 2013 on Trail Journals. He started 1/1 of that year. Wound up with Frost Bite.Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
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rhjanes wrote:
Be very careful, opt on the safety side. I followed a NOBO, Rifle in 2013 on Trail Journals. He started 1/1 of that year. Wound up with Frost Bite.
That was a tough year and a lot of folks had to drop out, didn't see a lot of hikers on the trail, I did Hampton to Pearisburg and got there just in time for a winter storm, worst of it was when it warmed and a little and you had deep snow where you had to step in already made tracks and they were full of slush, your feet get wet and cold in snow but only to a point, in the slush with the water in your shoes continually turning over the feet just keep getting colder, I feel fortunate not to have gotten frost bite.I may grow old but I'll never grow up. -
rhjanes wrote:
Be very careful, opt on the safety side. I followed a NOBO, Rifle in 2013 on Trail Journals. He started 1/1 of that year. Wound up with Frost Bite.
Rifle entered the Smokies three days ahead of me that year. I was doing a short trip. The freezing rain and ice is challenging to hike in.Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
Dr. Seuss -
Brrr! June for me.
What's your sleeping system?www.appalachiantrailclarity.com - Life on the A.T.
Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself. -
I expect to be on the AT sometime in July or August, somewhere in Maine.
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max.patch wrote:
yep, and the high elevations thru the park make the park the most likely location for high snowfall conditions for the nobo hiker.
laurie p of the atc just posted this on fb:
ALERT: CRAMPONS NEEDED to traverse the Smokies at high elevations. Solid ice covers a 1/2 mile section between Newfound Gap and Icewater Spring Shelter. In other sections there is a spotty mixture of ice, snow and trail.Other trails in the higher elevations likely have similar conditions as well. Information provided to ATC by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Backcountry Office.
[IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10432125_10204456014252911_3581851549219911924_n.jpg?oh=120647838febaafaba6b33c171225a9f&oe=54D35954&__gda__=1423182560_c5277830bb2f989506eef2d9dc8b54d2]
[IMG:https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10632681_10204456014692922_424157041973722218_n.jpg?oh=84041b563c615d96000499e23eb9e9e1&oe=551D72A4]
[IMG:https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10491113_10204456014372914_6207610564171540720_n.jpg?oh=37c6ccb8ea9bc48e66f9bdc04c86560d&oe=54E3960F]2,000 miler -
max.patch wrote:
max.patch wrote:
yep, and the high elevations thru the park make the park the most likely location for high snowfall conditions for the nobo hiker.
laurie p of the atc just posted this on fb:
ALERT: CRAMPONS NEEDED to traverse the Smokies at high elevations. Solid ice covers a 1/2 mile section between Newfound Gap and Icewater Spring Shelter. In other sections there is a spotty mixture of ice, snow and trail.Other trails in the higher elevations likely have similar conditions as well. Information provided to ATC by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Backcountry Office.
[IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10432125_10204456014252911_3581851549219911924_n.jpg?oh=120647838febaafaba6b33c171225a9f&oe=54D35954&__gda__=1423182560_c5277830bb2f989506eef2d9dc8b54d2]
[IMG:https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10632681_10204456014692922_424157041973722218_n.jpg?oh=84041b563c615d96000499e23eb9e9e1&oe=551D72A4]
[IMG:https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10491113_10204456014372914_6207610564171540720_n.jpg?oh=37c6ccb8ea9bc48e66f9bdc04c86560d&oe=54E3960F]
Looks like fun if your prepared. Looks like a nightmare if you don't have spikes.Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
Dr. Seuss -
Rasty wrote:
max.patch wrote:
max.patch wrote:
yep, and the high elevations thru the park make the park the most likely location for high snowfall conditions for the nobo hiker.
laurie p of the atc just posted this on fb:
ALERT: CRAMPONS NEEDED to traverse the Smokies at high elevations. Solid ice covers a 1/2 mile section between Newfound Gap and Icewater Spring Shelter. In other sections there is a spotty mixture of ice, snow and trail.Other trails in the higher elevations likely have similar conditions as well. Information provided to ATC by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Backcountry Office.
[IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10432125_10204456014252911_3581851549219911924_n.jpg?oh=120647838febaafaba6b33c171225a9f&oe=54D35954&__gda__=1423182560_c5277830bb2f989506eef2d9dc8b54d2]
[IMG:https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10632681_10204456014692922_424157041973722218_n.jpg?oh=84041b563c615d96000499e23eb9e9e1&oe=551D72A4]
[IMG:https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10491113_10204456014372914_6207610564171540720_n.jpg?oh=37c6ccb8ea9bc48e66f9bdc04c86560d&oe=54E3960F]
Looks like fun if your prepared. Looks like a nightmare if you don't have spikes.
i remember last year when me and you went through there were some small patches of ice and snow, and had hear a few hikers had gotten hurt the week before.its all good -
I wish I was there right nowSometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
Dr. Seuss -
I'll be heading up some White Mountain 4000 footer tomorrow... probably Osceola. I expect conditions as in Laurie's photos. Expecting some snow, but probably not deep.
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what kinda traction dee=vices are you using?its all good
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Those pictures look as if I'd take that ice in microspikes. Crampons would be overkill unless there's stuff that's a lot steeper than those patches look.
(Yes, I do own full crampons as well as microspikes.)I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here. -
AnotherKevin wrote:
Those pictures look as if I'd take that ice in microspikes. Crampons would be overkill unless there's stuff that's a lot steeper than those patches look.
(Yes, I do own full crampons as well as microspikes.)
I saw some nano spikes recently, your thoughts/opinion?
kahtoola.com/product/nanospikes/Lost in the right direction. -
TrafficJam wrote:
AnotherKevin wrote:
Those pictures look as if I'd take that ice in microspikes. Crampons would be overkill unless there's stuff that's a lot steeper than those patches look.
(Yes, I do own full crampons as well as microspikes.)
I saw some nano spikes recently, your thoughts/opinion?
kahtoola.com/product/nanospikes/
they dont look very durableits all good -
hikerboy wrote:
what kinda traction dee=vices are you using?
Will carry at least the microspikes and the the HillSounds. Snowshoes are in the car, not sure if they'll come along on the hike. -
TrafficJam wrote:
AnotherKevin wrote:
Those pictures look as if I'd take that ice in microspikes. Crampons would be overkill unless there's stuff that's a lot steeper than those patches look.
(Yes, I do own full crampons as well as microspikes.)
I saw some nano spikes recently, your thoughts/opinion?
kahtoola.com/product/nanospikes/
These would be better if you are running icespike.com/store/index.html
or these if hiking kahtoola.com/product/microspikes/Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
Dr. Seuss -
AnotherKevin wrote:
Those pictures look as if I'd take that ice in microspikes. Crampons would be overkill unless there's stuff that's a lot steeper than those patches look.
(Yes, I do own full crampons as well as microspikes.)
But full 12 point crampons look really cool! -
TrafficJam wrote:
AnotherKevin wrote:
Those pictures look as if I'd take that ice in microspikes. Crampons would be overkill unless there's stuff that's a lot steeper than those patches look.
(Yes, I do own full crampons as well as microspikes.)
I saw some nano spikes recently, your thoughts/opinion?
kahtoola.com/product/nanospikes/
Sound like something Mork would use.The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
Richard Ewell, CSA General
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